Pages

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Donna Kaufmann's Snowflake Bay Blog Tour (+Giveaway)

Enter to Win a Print Copy of

SNOWFLAKE BAY

SNOWFLAKE BAY

The Brides of Blueberry Cove #2

Donna Kauffman

Released Sept 29th, 2015

Kensington: Zebra

There’s no place like seaside Blueberry Cove, Maine, at Christmas—and there’s nothing like a wedding, the warmth of the holidays, and an old crush, to create the perfect new start…Interior designer Fiona McCrae has left fast-paced Manhattan to move back home to peaceful Blueberry Cove. But she’s barely arrived before she’s hooked into planning her big sister Hannah’s Christmas wedding—in less than seven weeks. The last thing she needs is for her first love, Ben Campbell, to return to neighboring Snowflake Bay…

As kids, Fiona was the bratty little sister Ben mercilessly teased—while pining after Hannah. But Fi never once thought of Ben like a brother. And that hasn’t changed. Except Fi is all grown up. Will Ben notice her now? More importantly, with her life in a jumble, should he? Or might the romance of the occasion, the spirit of the season, and the gifts of time ignite a long-held flame for many Christmases to come…

Something old might just become something new…

There should
be a rule book, she decided. Or at the very least, a tastefully done pamphlet.
The Bridesmaid Rules. Fiona McCrae zipped along the cove road, too distracted
to even glance across Pelican Bay at the lighthouse perched majestically out on
the tip of Pelican Point. Too much to do. Too much to plan. What on earth had
she been thinking, taking this on?

“A list of
basic, common-sense rules,” she said, warming to the subject as she made the
turn toward the Point. She would have been quite happy to draw up that list, if
anyone asked. She could think of a half dozen without even trying.

Bridesmaid Rule No.1: No one should
have to be a bridesmaid more than once in a year. “Especially if said bridesmaid has
yet to become a bride herself.” She smiled wryly. “And the single-ladies crowd
goes wild.” She made the universal hordes-cheering sound, and held on to her
amused smile as she wove her way ever closer to home base. Hmm. Bridesmaid Rule No. 2 … “No bridesmaid
should ever be expected, asked, or guilted into being the wedding planner.”
Actually, she thought, that should probably be Rule No. 1.

If there was
such a rule book, being a bridesmaid twice in six months and the wedding
planner for both events would be in serious breach of the bridesmaid code. On
top of that, this time she was also the maid of honor. And she had been honored
when her older sister had asked her to play that most special role in her big
day. She’d done the big, sloppy cry, in fact. They both had. And there hadn’t
even been adult beverages involved.

At the time,
Fiona had blamed still being joybuzzed from watching her big brother tie the
knot barely three months earlier. And now, suddenly—too suddenly to her mind—it
was Hannah’s turn to walk down the aisle.

Weddings were
a happy thing. A thing she should be thrilled about. Downright jubilant. So
what if her family was falling in love all around her while her life was
falling apart?

Okay, so
maybe falling apart was being a bit melodramatic. Except selling off her
award-winning interior design business in Manhattan to move, lock, stock, and
fabric sample binders, back to her hometown of Blueberry Cove, Maine—all
without exactly firming up her new business model—pretty much felt exactly like
that. She still couldn’t believe she’d really made the leap, taken the plunge.
“Jumped off the cliff,” she added sardonically as she pulled in between her
sister-in-law Alex’s ancient truck and the big red pickup parked in the small
lot outside her childhood home.

Fiona gasped
as she cracked the car door open and the icy coastal breeze snatched her breath
away. She wedged her booted foot out first to keep the door propped open,
trying not to bang it into the truck as she climbed out, lugging the heavy
satchel behind her. It was filled with an assortment of samples, swatches,
wedding books, and magazines she’d carefully selected, along with a stack of planners
she’d already begun assembling, the combined weight of which felt as if she’d
packed up the proverbial kitchen sink.

She edged her
way out between the vehicles, but didn’t give the truck much notice otherwise,
assuming it belonged to yet another of Alex’s long list of sub-contractors. The
renovation work on the old lightkeeper’s cottage was the last part of the
Pelican Point restoration project that Alex had been working on for close to
two years now. Fiona did glance out at the Point then and took a moment to
admire the beautifully restored stack of two-hundred-year-old stone that was
the McCrae family lighthouse. But only a moment.

No time for
dawdling! There was a wedding to plan! “In seven freaking weeks,” she muttered
under her breath. Seriously. There should be rules. Fiona hauled the oversized
canvas tote up higher onto her shoulder and dipped her chin down, tucking it
into the scarf she’d wrapped repeatedly around her neck. It was a vain attempt
to keep the wind that clipped relentlessly over the rocky promontory from
whipping her cheeks to an even more chapped pink than they already were. In all
of her daydreaming about moving back home to the Cove, how was it she’d managed
to so utterly forget what the cold weather did to her fair skin?

She needed to get a tube of
rehydrating cream to keep in her purse. And one for her car. And every other
bag she carried. If she applied it a dozen times a day, she might have a slim
chance at not resembling a cherry-cheeked elf at her sister’s December wedding.
And that was another thing. Who gets married at Christmas? Who wants to have
their wedding anniversary compete with Santa?

USA Today bestselling author of the Cupcake Club Romance series,
Donna Kauffman has seen her books reviewed in venues ranging from Kirkus
Reviews and Library Journal to Entertainment Weekly and Cosmopolitan. She lives
just outside of DC in the lovely Virginia countryside, where she is presently
trying to makeover her newly empty nest into something that doesn’t have to
accommodate piles of sports equipment falling out of her coat closet (okay, out
of every closet...and under every bed....), size 13 cleats and sweaty uniforms
cluttering her foyer (and stairwell, and laundry room, and...), and a kitchen
that should have come with a traffic light. And a pantry monitor. (Anyone with
a clever idea on how to repurpose lacrosse sticks into matching reading lamps,
she’s all ears!) When she’s not stripping paint, varnishing an old auction
house find, or trying to avoid bodily injury with her latest power tool
purchase, she loves to hear from readers!